Heroes
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: Just a drabbly scene after everyone gets home in 'Mindbender'. Someone is up, besides Rogue.


She was draped in Logan's bomber as the rain beat the Xavier Institute's numerous windows. The mission was over, the X-Men were reunited. But to Rogue, it still felt like unfinished business. The man's tattooed face was stained in her mind; crawling over it like spilled ink. The way he'd looked at her after Jean threw him the artifacts… It would keep her up for the next few nights, whether somebody noticed or not. She shut her eyes when lightning illuminated her skin. She hated storms like this, knowing her hair was still wet and curly from the rain, her makeup smeared.

An intrusive memory interrupts the train of thought. This happened more often, ever since she touched Jean after fall sport tryouts. Others' memories and shouting psyches were inserting themselves with alarming frequency. Still, Mesmero's eyes are stuck in her mind. They had bigger things to worry about, she would hold on to this secret for as long as she could.

_It was raining when they first met. Scott was crying because he was scared. He missed his mom and dad. He missed Alex. He missed being able to open his eyes without being terrified he killed somebody. But, it was Jean Grey's face who made him feel better. Made him forget. She made his vision perfect, complimenting his red dyed eyesight like nothing else._

_Jean Grey. Jean Grey. Jean Grey. Such a masterful telepath back then, Charles was hiding it from herself. She was subconsciously sending telepathic 'love me! love me!' waves (like she needed to) and pushing Scott's obvious affection from her mind's eye. It's an infuriating juxtaposition that Rogue still notices today (Scott's mine, except he's not mine and I don't care, but he belongs to me, and-) that she didn't need to touch her to know._

_Her memories are like an annoying commentary to everything she hates._

_"Hi, I'm Jean. Jean Grey. What's your name?"_

"Rogue?" She's surprised to see the youngest New Recruit standing and watching her in the dim piano room. A cup of shaking tea in his hands. A boy capable of making endless copies of himself, she has to notice he's fearless. She's grateful he called out to her, she almost let a J roll off her tongue too fast, her thoughts drenched in the red head's psyche.

"J-Jaime?" She drawled, causing him to stare at her, curiously. For whatever reason, the scrawny kid wasn't afraid of her. And, he wasn't like Bobby (who wasn't afraid but constantly_ antagonized_ her), despite being a kid they got along really well. Rogue had never really been spoken to or treated like one, and at his age she remembers that wasn't what she wanted. Her scowl replaces her introspective look. "What are ya doin' up? Know how late it is?" He only smiles, joining the girl at the window.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep." He tries to make it seem like he isn't scared of thunderstorms. When she hugs herself, he offers the tea. "I made you some. Wolverine taught me how." Rogue half smiled and thought of the man parked at Kitty and Jean's side, in the infirmary just to be on the safe side. Scott was probably there, too. Watching each state of the monitors attached to the telepath. Kurt and Evan are resting, and she was alone.

Jaime tries not to grin too much when she accepts. "Thanks." She says after a moment, taking a dainty sip.

"I… Heard about the mission." She turned to him in surprise. She wasn't sure exactly how much would be shared with younger students. Jean's powers lingered for a while since they'd grown. She felt the professor and Hank's distinct concern and anxiety from what they'd encountered. Something wasn't quite right, she could read it on Logan's body language on the ride home. Last thing they needed was a school full of sleepless mutants. "I'm on punishment." He clarified sheepishly. Rogue tries not to encourage the behavior with a smile. "I trapped Bobby and the others in the Danger Room for making fun of me. I was sweeping the Danger Room lobby while grownups were talking."

"Makin' fun of you, _huh_?" Rogue inquires, now fully interested. Jaime nods as she takes a long sip.

"They always say I'm too young, I don't understand, I can't handle it." He sighs and sits on a maroon armchair. "So, I turned the Danger Room up_ extra high_." Jaime's eyes brighten when he catches Rogue laughing. She never laughs. Only at Logan (and sometimes Scott and Bobby). He can't believe his eyes when she stifles it.

"Look, while that _is_ funny, it was dangerous. The stuff in the Danger Room is fake, but the injuries are _real._ You don't want to be responsible for your friend getting hurt, do you?" The brunette shook his head. "Right. Take your punishment and don't fiddle with the Danger Room. Been there." A beat of silence passed as Rogue savored the tea, and the New Recruit savored company that wasn't condescending.

"I would've been scared." He mostly whispered when lightning flashed. Even at his angriest, the thought of facing Jubilee or Bobby or Ray as enemies made him want to pop clones. Rogue reads the look on his face and knows what he's thinking. "How… Did you and Scott _do_ it?" She snorted, still a bit sore from the maneuvering needed that night. Her teammates gave them a run for their money.

"Easy. We_ had_ to." She answers, looking down at the mug of green tea. "They were countin' on us." Jaime can see from her body language that it had been hard on her, but they got the job done.

"You and Scott are my heroes." He declares with shut eyes. She's always known he looked up to him, but she never thought to be anyone's hero.

"_Me?_" She sounds disgusted.

"You touched Jean, and the control stopped!" He continues, more infatuated with her powers than fearful. He was a strange boy. She quirked an eyebrow as he watched the storm, outside. "I'm glad we have someone like_ you, _with your powers on the team." She frowned when his expression fell. "All anyone says is that mine are annoying or get in the way."

"Hey, _everyone's_ power is useful. The professor told me that." Jaime can't believe his eyes when she placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Ah… Used to not believe him. But, look at what you just said." The younger boy doesn't notice one of her fists clench. "All of us have a purpose, and you're gonna find _yours _here. For what it's worth, Jaime…" He meets tired, grey eyes. "Ah think your power is cool."

"Wow, really?" She nods, ushering him towards the kitchen. He can't wait to throw that in the other New Recruit's faces when they're picking on him.

"Really. Ah'll show ya where Logan hides his ice cream, but then we gotta go to bed." He nods vigorously and follows her to the freezer, still in her soaked uniform. She's smiling, but her eyes are elsewhere.

"_I'm Scott. Scott Summers…"_

_'Who wouldn't want powers like mine…'_


End file.
